First-timer Problem

[mhall]

Hello all, I am building my first guitar and have also created my first problem. I regret that I don't know how to post pictuires, otherwise I would show you what I'm dealing with. Instead I'll do my best to describe it. After cutting the face of the angled headstock, I began to plane the surface smooth. While doing this I inadvertantly removed some wood where the nut will sit. The treble side of the neck is fine, but I removed nearly half of the surface on the bass side where the nut sits (1/4 of total area nut occupies). I estimate the gap to be roughly half a millimeter. Will gap-filling properties of epoxy be enough to mask my mistake or are more drastic measures needed? Thank you in advance. Matt

[djhollowman]

Hi, and welcome to the forums!

Yes, photos would definately help! Always try to post photos if poss.

What you need to do is upload your digital photo(s) to an online photo hosting site (I use photobucket.com), from there you copy the image tag bit, on photobucket it's called IMG Code, and when you come back here you click the "Insert Image" button just above the box you're typing in, paste the code, and wayhey! Try it, it's fun! ....and really helps the rest of us!

Have you already fitted the fingerboard? If not, you could possibly relocate the fingerboard and re-cut the area for the nut.

I think the real problem here is that, by your description of it, you will have removed quite a bit of wood. This means it may not be as easy as simply filling up an area and sanding it flat - you may have changed the level of the head surface.

You could veneer the front of the head, having built it up level again and sanded it flat.

I'm sure some of the more experienced fellas will chime in and help out as well.

Hope this helps!

DJ

[mhall]

Hi, and welcome to the forums!

Yes, photos would definately help! Always try to post photos if poss.

What you need to do is upload your digital photo(s) to an online photo hosting site (I use photobucket.com), from there you copy the image tag bit, on photobucket it's called IMG Code, and when you come back here you click the "Insert Image" button just above the box you're typing in, paste the code, and wayhey! Try it, it's fun! ....and really helps the rest of us!

Have you already fitted the fingerboard? If not, you could possibly relocate the fingerboard and re-cut the area for the nut.

I think the real problem here is that, by your description of it, you will have removed quite a bit of wood. This means it may not be as easy as simply filling up an area and sanding it flat - you may have changed the level of the head surface.

You could veneer the front of the head, having built it up level again and sanded it flat.

I'm sure some of the more experienced fellas will chime in and help out as well.

Hope this helps!

DJ

I think I have a picture you can go to now. The quality is not great but you can hopefully see the problem. The low spot is filled in with pencil for easier viewing. http://i514.photobucket.com/albums/t341/Ma...71/tools002.jpg

[Dean]

I would just level it off ,you have plenty of nut before you shape it.The nut will just be a little taller over all,but when you shape it and cut it ,it just has to be spaced and filed for setup.If I am looking at your neck right ,the nut just layes up against the fret board and flat on the bottom,like a 335 nut.

[Mickguard]

You could easily glue in a shaving (using the same wood). The repair will be invisible, especially since there will be a nut covering it.